SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Jan. 16, 2025) – It came down to the final moments, but the Northern Arizona women's basketball team edged Sacramento State, 75-70, tonight at The Nest in Sacramento, Calif.
It's the second-straight win over the Hornets and fifth-straight on the road, as NAU improves to 13-5 on the season and 4-1 in Big Sky Conference play. Sacramento State drops to 8-9 and 1-3.
Northern Arizona led by as many as 13 in the third quarter and by seven entering the fourth. The Hornets opened the final frame on a 15-5 run to retake a 63-62 lead and force a Lumberjack timeout. Out of the break,
Taylor Feldman scored all 11 points on an 11-0 run to help NAU pull back ahead 73-63 en route to the win.
Feldman led all players with 28 points, her third-straight game with over 20 points. She was 6-of-14 from the field, 4-of-7 from three-point range and a career-high 12-of-14 from the free throw line. Prior to her first miss at the charity stripe tonight, Feldman had made 44 straight for a Northern Arizona program record in consecutive free throws made. Additionally, the junior, in her home state of California, dished five assists and added six rebounds and a steal.
"I'm so proud of the team and how we handled the adversity of Sacramento State's run in the fourth quarter. Taylor put the team on her back and hit some big shots and free throws down the stretch," said head coach
Loree Payne. "We also had some huge defensive stops. It was a great team road win."
Olivia Moran added 14 points on 4-of-6 from the field, 1-for-1 from three-point range and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Both
Nyah Moran and
Saniyah Neverson added 10 points while
Ava Schmidt scored seven.
Sophie Glancey led the team with eight rebounds, scoring six points.
Foul trouble hindered NAU early, as the Lumberjacks committed five to reach the bonus before the first media timeout. Sacramento State took advantage, making 2-of-2 from the line before another bucket made it a 4-0 run for an early 8-5 Hornet lead. Heading into the media timeout, Northern Arizona hadn't scored for over two minutes. Out of the break,
Ava Schmidt went on a 4-0 run of her own and
Olivia Moran joined in for a 6-0 run that gave NAU an 11-8 advantage.
After the game moved into an 11-11 tie, the Lumberjacks would end the quarter on a 7-0 run that was capped by
Nyah Moran's second triple of the night. After not allowing the Hornets to make a field goal for nearly the final three minutes of the quarter, NAU took an 18-11 lead into the second.
The Hornets put a stop to the run with a three-pointer to start the quarter. Feldman started to heat up and used five-straight points of her own for a 23-14 lead. After not scoring for over two minutes, Sacramento State began to find a groove and used an 8-3 run to quickly cut the lead down to four points, 28-24. This time, it would be
Olivia Moran who put a stop to things with a run of her own, scoring five-straight to punch the advantage back out to 35-24.
At the half, NAU led 38-29 behind 12 points from
Olivia Moran, 10 of which came in the second quarter.
Both squads exchanged bucket-for-bucket to start the third, finding stretches where each side made three consecutive field goals. Big three-pointers from Feldman and
Nyah Moran down the stretch gave Northern Arizona its largest lead of 50-37, but the Hornets were pesky, using a 6-0 run to trim the lead back down to seven points. The Lumberjacks were held without a field goal for the final 2:43 of the quarter but still hung onto a 57-48 advantage going into the fourth.
Sacramento State came out and used a 15-5 run to take its first lead since the first quarter, 63-62, with 4:53 to play, forcing NAU to call a timeout. The Hornets couldn't miss, shooting 60 percent from the field during the stretch.
Enter, Feldman. Out of the break, she scored all 11 points on an 11-0 run that gave Northern Arizona a 73-63 advantage back. The run included a three-pointer and an 8-for-8 performance at the free throw line. NAU's defense collected itself, holding the Hornets without a field goal for the final 4:23.
On the night, the Hornets shot 40.3 percent (25-62) from the field compared to 38.3 (23-60) for NAU. The differences came behind the arc and at the free throw line. NAU made 9-of-22 from three-point range while the Hornets were 6-for-13. At the charity stripe, NAU made 20-of-24 and Sacramento State made 14-of-19.
Northern Arizona continues its Big Sky road trip at Portland State on Saturday, Jan. 18. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. Mountain Standard time.
